Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Before the trade becomes official...

Bryan Colangelo sent this e-mail to every Raptor fan on the team's mailing list last week:

Dear ERIC,What a spectacle! What we have all just witnessed is something unprecedented in professional basketball and possibly even in professional sports. In a year where multiple NBA teams positioned themselves for the ability to sign a "maximum" contract player (or players) in free agency, three of the NBA's bright young stars are teaming together in an attempt to win an NBA Championship. Kudos to the Miami Heat for pulling off such a feat.

I'm sure that there is frustration and disappointment, possibly even resentment, upon hearing the news that Chris Bosh is leaving Toronto to join forces with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in South Beach. Well that certainly is the feeling from this vantage point as we lose a player that has been the centrepiece of our franchise for the last several years. I can assure you every move/investment made in the last four years to improve our basketball team was designed with the belief that putting the right pieces around Chris would get us closer to our goal of winning an NBA Championship. In fact, Chris actively participated in that process as transactions and changes were contemplated because I have always believed that a franchise player experiences a sense of ownership in team building. Unfortunately, we fell short of that goal and must now move on to a post-Bosh era in Toronto.

In completing a Sign-and-Trade transaction with Miami, we were able to extract a very valuable Trade Exception and future draft picks that will serve as building blocks in the process of re-tooling our basketball team. The Trade Exception can be used to acquire players under contract with other teams via trade, or it can be used to leverage the acquisition of additional future assets. Speaking of the future, I can't tell you how energized we all feel to see the positive growth and development of so much young athletic talent on our roster including re-signing Amir Johnson and the recent first-round draft selection of Ed Davis. While more changes to the roster are possible, even likely, we can promise you now that this team will compete every night they take to the floor.

We believe we have the best fans in the NBA and we believe in the city and country that we play in. Your passion, pride and support has been tremendous no matter what the circumstances, and we cannot thank you enough for that. We all share a commitment to winning both on and off the floor and MLSE/Toronto Raptors ownership and management will do whatever it takes to WIN while also making the community a better place. Our franchise will evolve and emerge stronger than before, and I assure you that our combined efforts will produce the WINNER you are hoping for.